BJ's Homecoming
by LeahASAP
Summary: This short story picks up where "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" left off, following B.J. as he goes home and rejoins his family! It is best to have finished the show or at least know how it ends before reading it, but there are no major spoilers involved. Enjoy :)


_**BJ's Homecoming**_

***I do not own M*A*S*H or any of the characters from the show. That being said, enjoy the story. Speaking of enjoying the story, in order for you to truly enjoy it, it is probably best that you have gotten pretty far in the show, and preferably have finished it or know how it ends. There are no major spoilers, but it is helpful to have seen the episode 'Oh How We Danced.' As well (I believe that it is in season 9). ***

B.J. had just pulled up to his and Peggy's quaint home in sunny Mill Valley, California. As soon as he arrived home, he paid the cab driver (tipping as well as he could considering his meager army salary) and stepped out of the car. The cab drove away, and B.J. breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the house.

At long last, he was back where he belonged.

After standing in the sun for a couple of minutes, basking in the glow that almost seemed to come from the house itself, BJ decided to go in. He walked up to the front door and pulled the key out from under the mat. As he entered the doorway, he hesitantly called out.

"Peg? Erin? Anyone home?"

He quickly realized that no one was home. He had figured they weren't, since the car was not in the driveway and the girls hadn't run out to meet him. With all of the crazy events that had happened up until the cease-fire, he hadn't been able to tell Peg that he would be coming home soon. And after the cease-fire, all he had focused on was getting home as fast as possible…after saying goodbye to his family at the 4077. Peg knew that he would be coming home since the cease-fire had been called, but she had no idea of when to expect him.

As he continued thinking, BJ looked around the house. He saw the living room, which was a bit of a mess. But he did not mind that, because it was a mess he had missed out on seeing for far too long. Peg had a couple of sewing projects laid out on the couch, and Erin's toys were scattered around the floor. Looking at the scene reminded him of how much of his family's life had gone by without him.

"I can't believe I've missed out on so much of this." he muttered to himself, reflecting on the mess he was seeing. He then headed towards their bedroom, peeking in Erin's room as he passed it. Although her room looked basically the same as it had when he had left for Korea, there were a few differences: new toys, different clothes, and different baby supplies, all signs of the growing that Erin had done while he was gone.

Finally, BJ stepped into his and Peg's bedroom. Looking around the room at first glance, it seemed that not much had changed. But as he looked closer, he realized that his wife had done some redecorating in his absence. In addition to their wedding picture (which had been there when he left), there were about 10 or 15 other pictures of the two of them hanging on the wall. She had also put a framed picture of him on her nightstand. She had even pulled out boxes of special mementoes from their relationship: love letters he had written her when they were first dating, her corsage from the year they had gone to prom together, and their handwritten copies of their wedding vows. She had also started a new box, which appeared to have every single letter he had written to her while he was at the 4077. As he threw his stuff down and sat down on the bed, he even noticed that she had kept a picture of him under her pillow. He then looked closer at the bed itself. Peg's side was obviously slept in, but his side seemed untouched, as if she had been keeping it ready all these years for the moment he got home.

"Ah, Peg." He said to himself as he twirled the wedding ring that had been on his finger for several years now. "You never gave up on the two of us, did you?"

He thought about waiting in the bedroom for her, but decided against it. After all, he wanted to give her a surprise, not a heart attack when she walked in. Plus, he had no idea how long she would be gone, and how soon she would go into their room after coming home. Reluctantly, he got up from the bed and left the room, wandering the house for a couple of minutes before he walked into the backyard.

As he looked around the backyard, he started to make himself feel more at home by thinking of the things that needed to be done.

"Erin really needs a playhouse." BJ thought to himself. "That's something I can work on building on the weekends. I think a sandbox would be feasible, too. And we need a nice, shaded patio so that we can watch Erin play."

Realizing that he couldn't work on those projects without supplies, he settled on something he could do right away: pruning the lemon tree in the backyard. He had mentioned it to Colonel Potter a few days ago when they had talked about their homecomings, during a conversation that seemed like a lifetime ago. The ladder and hedge trimmers were sitting up against the house. B.J. figured that Peg had planned on getting the job done but had not had a chance to get around to it. He starting working on the tree, and soon became intently focused on getting the job done.

In fact, he was so focused that he didn't hear Peg pull up in the driveway. She had just gotten home from the grocery store, and grabbed several bags of groceries in one arm while holding Erin in her other arm. For most people, taking in the groceries and watching their child might be a two person job. But since BJ had been in Korea, she had learned to do a lot on her own.

"Sweetie, you were so good at the grocery store today." Peg said to Erin as she walked up to the door and let herself in. "Did you have fun with Mommy?"

"Yeah…pwetty toys, Mommy!" Erin replied with a happy smile.

"Yes, there were pretty toys, Erin, but you have plenty of pretty toys already." Peg replied factually as she sat down the groceries in the kitchen. Most people might not talk to their young children in a matter-of-fact way as Peg did with Erin, but since there were no other adults in the house, she carried on conversations as best as she could with her 2 year old daughter. "You also have a stinky diaper." Peg added as she noticed the smell coming from Erin's diaper. "C'mon sweetie, let's go in your room and change it."

"No mommy…Daddy's woom!"

"You mean Mommy and Daddy's room?" Peg asked with a sigh. "Alright, fine." For about a week, Erin had been having problems sleeping. Because of that, Peg had brought Erin to sleep in with her, and now she wanted to spend almost every waking moment in their bedroom. Peg walked in their room and set Erin on the bed. She grabbed a diaper from the drawer in her dresser when she noticed an army green bag sitting on the floor next to the bed.

"Where did that…" Peg asked herself, before she realized what the bag meant and gasped. "Oh my gosh…B.J.!"

"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetie" Peg replied as she scooped Erin up into her arms, the diaper change completely forgotten. "Your daddy is home!"

"Yay, Daddy!" Erin replied with a smile.

"Yes, yay daddy." Peg answered, almost hyperventilating from the excitement. But she wondered where he was. After all, she had walked through most of the house and hadn't seen him.

"The backyard?" she muttered to herself as she left the room and headed to the back door, holding Erin in her arms. She pulled the curtain aside slightly, peeked out, and saw him up on the ladder pruning the lemon tree.

"It's funny he would do that," she thought to herself, "Considering that was the project I was going to try and tackle during Erin's nap today." As she thought this, she realized just how many projects she didn't have to worry about now that B.J. was home. Life was changing, but this time it was for the better.

"Is dat daddy?" Erin asked, interrupting Peg's thinking.

"Yes, Erin. That's daddy." Peg said with a teary-eyed smile. As she said that, she thought of an idea. "Ok, Erin, we're going to go surprise Daddy. We're going to go outside and be very quiet until he sees us, ok?"

"Ok, mommy!" Erin said in a whisper. "Quiet!"

Peg put Erin down, took her hand, and opened the back door quietly. She looked at BJ for a second, but it didn't look like he had heard her. She looked at Erin, put her finger on her lips, and tiptoed quietly towards the tree. It almost seemed like time had slowed down. She felt the gentle breeze, smelled the faint lemon smell the tree put off, and heard BJ humming something along the lines of "Gee, Ma, I wanna go home." She could feel the excitement in this moment; after all, as soon as he saw her, they would be together again. They would be a proper family.

Peg's plan had been to walk around the tree to where BJ would see them. However, Erin had her own idea of how the moment should go. Peg had only taken a few steps, when Erin got a big grin on her face, ran toward B.J. and yelled "DADDY!"

BJ almost fell off the ladder. He jumped, turned, and saw Peg and Erin. His face went from shock to excitement in a matter of seconds. He silently climbed off the ladder and ran to them.

"Peg…Erin…" he muttered almost breathlessly as he ran to them and embraced them in a hug.

"BJ." Peg replied as she hugged back, the two of them overcome by the moment and at a loss for words.

After about a full minute of hugging, BJ spoke. "It's been too long, Peg."

"Tell me about it." She said in what appeared to be a laugh and a cry at the same time. "Erin," she said, looking down at their daughter, "this is your Daddy." As she said that, B.J. picked Erin up and took her into his arms.

"Hi sweetie." BJ said with a teary smile as he held his daughter close. Erin was silent at first, looking up at his face and taking him in for the first time in her memory. But when she did speak her first words to BJ, they were words he would remember for the rest of his life.

"I wuv you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Erin." BJ said, holding back tears. "And I promise that I'm here to stay, ok?"

Erin didn't response, however, because she had fallen asleep in his arms.

"I think she's exhausted." Peg said quietly. "I was going to put her to down for a nap after we went shopping, and I was in the middle of changing her diaper when I saw your bag in the bedroom. I think this excitement was a lot for her. She's been waiting for this moment for a long time."

"Not as long as I have been." BJ answered slowly. "Peg, she's even more beautiful than pictures can do justice. But that's only because she looks just like you."

"But she has your eyes, B.J." Peg replied as she looked up into his eyes. "We noticed that as soon as she was born, remember?"

"Of course…" he replied vaguely as he looked down at wife. For the first time in years, the two of them really looked at each other. They noticed each other's gray hairs, worry lines, and slightly aged faces and bodies. The last few years had been hard on both of them, and nothing would ever be the same. But the way they felt about each other hadn't changed.

"I've missed you so much, BJ." Peg said gently as they started to embrace each other again.

"I've missed you too, Peg." BJ replied, hugging his wife with one arm and holding his daughter in the other."

"You must have so much to talk about…Korea and everything. I mean, your letters told me a lot, but I'm sure there must be more."

"Mmmm…" he replied with a smile as he continued to hug her. "I'm sure you have a lot to tell me too." As he said that, he thought of all the things he had missed with his wife and daughter: birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas's, and all of the ordinary days in between.

"I know what you're thinking." She responded quickly as she looked up at him. "You're thinking of all the things you missed here while you were in Korea. But B.J., you need to remember the things you experienced there as well. I mean, you saved lives and became a part of a whole other family while you were there. I know I can never experience that with you, but I want to hear how you experienced it. Don't worry about missing things here…you're here now, and that's what matters."

BJ didn't respond with words, but instead by leaning down to kiss her. The two of them kissed, a reminder to them of how much they had missed each other and what was to come now that they were together again. They broke apart after a few seconds.

"I suppose we should put Erin down for her nap before we continue this."

"Probably a good idea." Peg replied as she smiled at him. She took his hand, and the two of them walked towards the door.

"About this dirty diaper you left for me" he said with a smirk, noticing the smell for the first time since he had been home, "are you sure you've changed it since I left for Korea?"

Peg giggled and shook her head. "Don't worry, I've changed plenty of diapers. You've got quite a few to change to catch up to my record. So, are you keeping the mustache?" 

"Of course." He replied with a goofy smile. "It makes me look more…grown-up."

"If that's the word you want to use for it." Peg replied jokingly. "You might as well keep it…I'm sure it took you the whole time you were there to grow it anyway."

B.J. laughed as he passed Erin back to Peg and opened the backdoor for the two of them. "You know, your humor is much better in person that it is in letters. I've missed this."

"I can't say the same for your mustache, BJ." She said with a smirk. "But seriously…I've missed this too." she said as she reached up and kissed him again. They went into Erin's room, changed her diaper, and put her down for her nap. After walking out of her room and back into the living room, Peg turned and looked at B.J.

"You know, I think I owe you an anniversary dinner."

"You're right." He said as he stepped over to their record player and put on a song. "And I know I owe you a dance."

"B.J…I'm not even dressed up." Peg answered with a bit of a giggle.

"You look beautiful." B.J. answered with a smile. As the music came on, B.J. took her hand in his, and the two of them started to slow-dance. As they danced, B.J. realized that his life was changing yet again. His time at M*A*S*H had forever changed him, and although he had hated the war he was forever grateful for the people he had experienced it with. But now, with his wife at his side and his child in his arms, he was where he belonged.

B.J. was home.

*** **Author's Note** : Hello readers! Sorry it's been so long since I've written…between work and school, life has been pretty crazy. I finally finished watching M*A*S*H, so I was able to come up with this story. I hope to post some new ones and update my ongoing ones soon, so be on the lookout for more stories soon. FYI, I start nursing school in about 2 weeks, so I will probably be posting less frequently after that (I do plan to keep on writing whenever I have time, though). Thank you for reading this, and please post a review letting me know what you think. ***


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